Sutton ranks as the UK’s cleanest living city with a 96.7/100 clean living score, and overall southern England dominates the top rankings with 5 of the top 10 cleanest living cities located below the Midlands.
Poor diet costs the health service around £5.8 billion each year, with physical inactivity contributing an additional £0.9 billion. A new study by the company Drug Testing Kits UK assesses so-termed ‘clean living’ metrics across UK cities to identify which urban areas have the potential to offer the healthiest living environments.
Approaching an assessment of ‘clean living’ is always a contested concept and there are different measures that can be deployed. The current research examined cities using various metrics, including percentages of vegans, vegetarians, and pescatarians, physical activity levels, obesity rates, smoking rates, drug usage, and access to facilities like yoga centres.
Each metric was weighted by importance to create a composite Clean Living Score, with diet quality accounting for 40% of the final score, physical health 30%, harmful habits 25%, and wellness access 5%. Cities were then ranked based on their total Clean Living Score.
The top 10 cleanest living cities in the UK
| City | % of Drug Users | % of Smokers | % of Physically Active Adults | N of Yoga Centers | Clean Living Score |
| Sutton | 27 | 15.8 | 73 | 16 | 97 |
| London | 36 | 11.5 | 59 | 187 | 90 |
| Manchester | 35 | 17.3 | 72 | 100 | 89 |
| Belfast | 55 | 18.4 | 75 | 99 | 83 |
| Oxford | 28 | 7.4 | 72 | 67 | 80 |
| Southampton | 26 | 14.2 | 67 | 60 | 73 |
| Leicester | 23 | 13.1 | 54 | 75 | 67 |
| Walsall | 10 | 13.8 | 55 | 9 | 63 |
| Portsmouth | 20 | 10.1 | 71 | 83 | 61 |
| Nottingham | 23 | 16.5 | 72 | 86 | 59 |
As indicated above, Sutton comes in first place with the highest Clean Living Score of 96.7/100. The South London borough demonstrates a commitment to plant-based eating, with nearly half of the residents following meat-free diets. Sutton residents also show strong physical activity levels while keeping smoking rates relatively controlled compared to other major urban areas.
London secures second place. The capital matches Sutton’s 43.3% meat-free diet adoption while recording one of the lowest smoking rates among top-ranking cities. London also provides the highest number of yoga centres (187) to its residents, reaching an overall of 90.3. Clean Living Score.
Manchester takes third place in the ranking. The northwestern city equals the top meat-free diet statistics at 43.3% and follows the capital city closely in Clean Living Score. Manchester also operates the second-highest number of yoga centres in the top 10.
Belfast holds fourth place as the top-performing city in Northern Ireland. Despite the 88.9 Clean Living Score, Belfast has the highest smoking rate. The city also shows the biggest number of drug users in the top ten. In contrast, Belfast residents record the highest physical activity participation among the leading cities.
Oxford ranks fifth with a 79.7 Clean Living Score and the lowest smoking rate of 7.4% across all studied cities. The university city has a 25.6% meat-free diet adoption rate and 72% physical activity participation. Oxford operates 67 yoga centres for its population.
Southampton secures sixth place and maintains balanced health metrics across all categories. Southampton also shows relatively low obesity rates compared to national averages. Overall, the coastal city gets a 73.1 Clean Living Score.
Leicester takes seventh place, demonstrating above-average plant-based diet adoption. Leicester’s commitment to alternative diets contributes significantly to its clean living credentials. Another contributor to the city’s 66.9 Clean Living Score is the lowest obesity rate across the United Kingdom.
Walsall holds eighth place with the lowest drug usage rate among all analysed cities and a 63.4 Clean Living Score. The West Midlands town posts 55% physical activity levels while having the least significant substance use patterns across the country.
Portsmouth ranks ninth, combining low smoking rates with high physical activity levels. At the same time, the city has the highest share of the obese population. Portsmouth also shows the best yoga accessibility, with the fewest people per yoga centre, resulting in a 61.1 Clean Living Score.
Nottingham comes in 10th place. The city stands out with its physical activity participation while also showing high obesity levels. Around a 3rd of Nottingham’s population follows a meat-free diet, while the number of the city’s yoga centres reaches 87. In total, Nottingham gets a 58.7 Clean Living Score.
The data shows that no single factor determines clean living success – for example, Portsmouth excels in fitness and wellness access while still facing obesity challenges.
